Categories

Search Archives

Tedford’s Up-Tempo May Not Be Revolutionary

August 25th, 2014

Bucs OC Jeff Tedford talks more about his offense.

There was always a perplexing nag in the back of Joe’s mind with all the jumping up and down at One Buc Palace about running an up-tempo offense, excitement as if Joe coerced Rachel Watson to join him on a private sunset cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. Was this mysterious Jeff Tedford offense going to be revolutionary?

Apologies, but Joe never asked. But Ronde Barber did.

And it seems the slight doubt Joe had was realized Saturday night. After the Bucs slapped around the Bungling Bills, Barber, the former Bucs great, had a sitdown with Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford, seen on WFLA-TV Channel 8. In the interview, Barber asked Tedford what is so different about his up-tempo offense?

Tedford, in so many words, admitted, not too much.

Ronde Barber: In your mind, what is the benefit of tempo? How does it affect your guys and the defense?

Jeff Tedford: I think it gets us in a rhythm, I really do. I think sometimes it can shorten a defense’s playbook a little. So many people do it nowadays that you are not really catching anybody off-guard with anything. I think it helps us get into a flow and play fast. I felt like [playing Miami] when we tried some of it, I felt like our guys felt good with what they are doing.

This is true. New England runs a fast-paced offense. Obviously, so too does Philadelphia, to name a couple. While Tedford and the Bucs are not trying anything revolutionary, notice nine of the top 15 teams that ran the most offensive plays per game last year were teams with winning records. A 10th team, Baltimore, had an 8-8 mark.

So, if that is any barometer, if the Bucs can finish in the top half of the NFL in offensive plays per game, then it’s a decent shot they have a winning record, especially with Lovie’s expected stout defense. That seems to be more the goal than to try to be revolutionary or a trend setter.

I can remember watching the Cincinnati Bengals under Sam Wyche in the late 1980’s run those little “sugar huddles” at the line of scrimmage to keep the defense from substituting or even getting a chance to catch their breath. Say what you will about Wyche’s tenure with the Bucs, but those Bengal a Teams he coached were pretty high powered and scored a lot of points! Don’t know if our 35 year old career journeyman and former High School Coach QB can handle it all season.

Perhaps I’m missing something, but I would assume that teams that run more offensive plays would probably be the same ones that win the time-of-possession battle.

Keep your offense and the other team’s defense on the field longer, and odds would seem to favor (1) that their defense will eventually wear down and (2) that your team will be more likely to score more points.

But then again, perhaps the whole thing is less obvious than it seems.

Good defenses usually cause more 3 and outs. As long as your offense can sustain drives, you are going to run more plays. It is not always about the pace of the offense. Turnovers also will give you 3-10 extra plays per game.

Up tempo or not, I think that we can all agree that this year’s play calling is leaps and bounds better than what Sullivan was calling last year. And that’s not focusing on the horrendous power run game that Schiano tried to establish.

I watch Tom Brady run McDaniel’s offense and I am jealous. Same with Sean Payton and the Saints. Creating constant match ups and rotating players to be fresh is effective. I hope that Tedford has plenty of packages for players like the two coaches I’ve mentioned.

There’s been a smile on my face so far as I’ve seen the team line up on various downs. I hope the smile continues.

Tedford never claimed his offense would be revolutionary. It’s revolutionary in Tampa though! Play calling and execution are still the key though. You can’t run a lot of plays if you can’t sustain drives.

Anything is better than watching Freeman stroll to the LOS. I replaced at least 7 perfectly good tvs that I threw things at during those days. It was infuriating. Should have known he was on something when he kept smiling and strolling after sacks, lost yards and throws to the dirt in front of receivers.

I agree that it looks as if the Bucs get into rhythm a bit faster than usual.
Go Bucs.